Say it if we behave like Buhari’s ‘rubber stamp’, Lawan tells Nigerians

The Senate President, Ahmad
Lawan, has asked Nigerians to
chide the National Assembly if it
behaves as an appendage of the
executive arm of government.
He said this while responding to
questions from some journalists in
Abuja on Monday.
Mr Lawan asked Nigerians to judge
the lawmakers by their actions.
“I will like to appeal…judge us by
what we do, judge us by our
actions. We have undertaken so
many actions so far and the press
has been on this journey with us.
Please judge us on what we do and
what we don’t,” he said.
Mr Lawan said the National
Assembly would do everything
possible to ensure that “they
legislate on what will make life
better for Nigerians.”
“…and we have shown this so far. I
think we have not done anything
to show that even if a request
against Nigerians will be passed.
“So that settles the issue of rubber-
stamp. When we do rubber-stamp,
you can say this is rubber-stamp,”
he said even as he urged Nigerians
to “please encourage us when we
also do what is right,” he said.
An organisation acts as a rubber
stamp when it approves the
decisions of others without proper
consideration. In a democracy, the
legislature is expected to check the
executive while maintaining its
independence.
Weak legislature
Mr Lawan’s comments come at a
time when Nigerians have accused
the National Assembly under his
leadership as a rubber-stamp.
Some actions taken by the
lawmakers that triggered criticisms
include the “bow and go” tradition
that dominated the ministerial
screening months ago as well as
the screening of the nominees of
the Niger Delta Development
Commission.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the 14 board
nominees of the NDDC, who appeared before
the Senate committee, were asked to ‘bow and
go’ without facing any serious questions from
lawmakers.
Majority of the ministerial nominees by
President Buhari were also asked to ‘bow and
go,’ with the Senate under Mr Lawan even
amending its own rules to increase the number
of nominees who would benefit from such
‘grace.’
Another incident was the second reading and
passage of the tax bill which the lawmakers did
without seeing copies of the bill.
Recently, Mr Lawan had said the National
Assembly will consider requests sent to them
by the president as he believes “it is in the best
interest of Nigerian and Nigerians”.
Mr Buhari’s relationship with the legislature in
his first tenure in office was turbulent as the
chambers were led by his political opponents.